The Denver Post points out that some of those questionable sites include, Vanity Fair, the gossip column perezhilton.com, the hipster-geek site boingboing.net, and photos from the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Of course, hard copies of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue are displayed on newsstands in the airport along with issues of Penthouse and Hustler.

But the airport's spokesman Chuck Cannon told the Associated Press on Wednesday that he would rather "weather infrequent complaints about access than handle angry parents whose children might see pornography." The airport started blocking various sites when the service became free in November. Previously, users had to pay a fee to access Wi-Fi.

The airport is supposedly using the same technology that's used by the governments of Sudan and Kuwait to repress free speech.

The news has set off a firestorm of criticism from folks such as David Byrne, founder of the rock group "Talking Heads." He told the Denver Post that officials in Denver should "give people some credit. And the more credit you give them, the more they respond. It's just trusting people's discretion.

Byrne was supposedly blocked from boingboing.net while connecting through Denver on his way to Aspen last month.

What do you think about airport officials blocking content on their free Wi-Fi network? If they provide free access should they tell you which sites you can visit? And if that's the deal, would you rather simply pay for access? Feel free to comment in our "TalkBack" section below.

About the author

Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie.
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